PHYS 401 A: Pedagogy of Physics: Mechanics

Welcome to PHYS 401-402-403.  The instructors of these courses are:

• Peter Shaffer (he/him) for PHYS 401
• David Smith (he/him) for PHYS 402
• Nikolai Tolich (he/him) for PHYS 403

In this class everyone is welcome, regardless of other identities you hold in addition to that of physics student.  We expect everyone in this class to treat each other with respect.

To protect their fellow students, faculty, and staff, students who feel ill or exhibit possible COVID symptoms should not come to class.  When absent, it is the responsibility of the student to inform the instructor in advance (or as close to the class period as possible in the case of an unexpected absence).

Introduction

Phys 401-402-403 prepares you to teach the material related to the labs and tutorials in the introductory physics courses.

• PHYS 401 discusses the lab and tutorial material in Phys 121.
• PHYS 402 discusses the lab and tutorial material in Phys 122.
• PHYS 403 discusses the lab and tutorial material in Phys 123.

The courses also give students a chance to strengthen their understanding of introductory physics concepts and the connections between the physics formalism, the underlying models, and real-world phenomena.

We will also introduce different aspects of education research and classroom management.  The planned topics include:

• Teaching by questioning
• Student interactions
• Think-pair-share
• Learning objectives
• Observations of an active classroom
• Rubric and grading 

PHYS 401-402-403 counts towards the physics capstone requirement.  Successful completion of one of PHYS 401-402-403 also makes you eligible to be hired as a paid undergraduate teaching assistant in the labs and tutorials of the corresponding introductory course in the physics department should there be an open position.

Learning objectives

By the end of this course, students will demonstrate the ability to:

• Understand introductory physics concepts and the connections between the physics formalism, the underlying models, and real-world phenomena well enough to teach those topics.
• Teach students in PHYS 121/122/123 tutorial and lab sections with an awareness of best pedagogical practices.
• Prepare and present a short lesson on a physics topic that addresses common misconceptions among elementary, middle, or high school students, guided by physics education research.

Contact information

You can contact us by sending an email to

• David Smith: dsmith4@uw.edu
• Peter Shaffer: shafferp@uw.edu
• Nikolai Tolich: ntolich@uw.edu

Course Material

No material is required for purchase.  We will provide copies of any material required for this course.

Schedule

On Mondays from 9:30 AM to 10:20 AM, we will discuss aspects of education research and classroom management.  PHYS 401, 402 and 403 will meet together in PAT C231.

On Fridays from 9:30 AM to 11:20 AM, we will prepare you for that week's lab and tutorial.  The meeting locations are as follows:

• PHYS 401 in PAB B108
• PHYS 402 in PAB B156
• PHYS 403 in PAB C231

The tentative schedule of topics is shown below.

• Week	Date	Monday	Friday
  1	9/23	No class	Safety / Introduction /Lab 1 Prep
  2	9/30	Tut 1 Prep	Tut/Lab 2 Prep
  3	10/7	Ped 1: Student TA interactions	Tut/Lab 3 Prep
  4	10/14	Ped 2: Teaching by questioning	Tut/Lab 4 Prep
  5	10/21	Ped 3: Think-Pair-Share	Tut/Lab 5 Prep
  6	10/28	Ped 4: Learning objectives	Tut/Lab 6 Prep
  7	11/4	Ped 5: Active-classroom observations	Tut/Lab 7 Prep
  8	11/11	Holiday	Tut/Lab 8 Prep
  9	11/18	Ped 6: Rubric and grading	Tut 9 Prep
  10	11/25	No class	Holiday
  11	12/2	Lesson	Lesson

Assignments

Lesson project (50% of grade)

• Toward the end of the quarter you will present a 5-10 minute physics lesson to your fellow students and instructors which is aimed at students in elementary, middle, or introductory high school (not college or AP physics level).
• You will submit the following parts throughout the quarter:
  • Lesson topic
  • Assessment question for the lesson
  • Lesson drafts
  • Final lesson

Interactions with students in PHYS 12X (15% of grade)

• You will interact with students in PHYS 12X throughout the quarter in one tutorial section and one lab section.
• At least once during the quarter you will be observed by an instructor in one of your lab/tutorial sections and will meet afterward to discuss your teaching.  The primary goal of this observation is to provide feedback and guidance in your teaching and to give you an opportunity to reflect on the teaching component of your assignment.
• Towards the end of the quarter you will write a reflection paper based on your experiences in tutorial and/or lab sections.

Tutorial class preparation (5% of grade)

• To prepare for the Friday classes, you will take a pretest each week.
• These are: 
  • Graded based on a thoughtful attempt, not on correctness.
  • Become available Friday at 12:00 PM and are due the following Friday at 9:30 AM.
  • Once you start a pretest, you will have 15 minutes to complete it without the ability to pause.

Weekly discussions (15% of grade)

• Each week, you will complete one of the two following types of discussions before 9:30 AM on Mondays:
  1. To prepare for the pedagogy classes, you will have a weekly reading assignment or other activity.  After you have completed the assigned activity for the week, you will post a short discussion about the assignment that will be graded based on a thoughtful response.
  2. You will reflect on your teaching in the previous week.

In class participation (15% of grade)

• You are required to participate in discussions in the class meetings.
• Each meeting will be graded based on the following rubric:
  • Adequate (2 points): Actively engaged in discussion.
  • Needs improvement (1 point): Did not significantly contribute to discussion.
  • Missing (0 points): Did not participate.

  If you cannot participate in a class meeting, let the appropriate instructor know as soon as possible so that we can make arrangements for you to make up the missed meeting.

  If you get a score of 1 point for a meeting, we will meet so that we can discuss expectations.

Grades

Your grades are assigned based on your weighted score with the following thresholds:

• 90%: 4.0
• 85%: 3.5
• 80%: 3.0
• 75%: 2.5
• 70%: 2.0

Access and accommodation

Your experience in this class is important to us, so if you have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but are not limited to: mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical), please contact DRS to arrange accommodations.

If you would like to share any accommodation needs that you may have, please contact us. 

Safe campus

We are committed to ensuring a safe environment on campus.  We encourage you to check out the resources available here.

Religious Accommodations

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities.  The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/).  Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).

Research Study Information

This course is part of a research project examining student ideas and attitudes about teaching physics with the goal of improving physics teaching.  By enrolling in this course, you are automatically included in the study.  Early in the quarter, students will have an opportunity to learn about the study and to remove themselves from the study if they wish.  Your instructor will not know whether or not you participate.  Please click on this link to review the details of the study, contact a member of the research team, or remove yourself from the study.